Family Sues NH Assisted Living Facility One Year After Disappearance of 84-Year-Old-Father
The daughters of an 84-year-old resident in a New Hampshire assisted living facility have filed a lawsuit against the facility one year after their father wandered away and has never been found. The lawsuit claims that the facility was negligent in its responsibility to adequately supervise their father who had been diagnosed in 2014 with Alzheimer’s disease. He had lived in the facility ever since that diagnosis was made.
In May 2018, the resident wandered away from the facility, but after being missing for five hours, firefighters found him brought him back. After that incident and due to their concern about their father’s increasing dementia, the daughters feared he might wander away from the facility and be injured. They obtained a clip-on tracking device for him to wear; however, the facility declined to place it on the resident. The resident’s physician also indicated in July 2018 that due to his declining condition the resident needed to have GPS tracking.
Toward the end of August, the facility’s administrator tried to reassure the daughters that the facility would keep their father safe, and that he did not need a higher level of care. The daughters, still concerned, provided the facility with information about another type of tracking device that could be placed in their father’s shoes. According to the lawsuit, the facility failed to place any kind of tracking device on the resident, but still allowed him to take unsupervised strolls outside.
On September 10, 2018, the resident was last seen wearing jeans, sneakers, a blue plaid shirt, and a baseball cap with a picture of a mosquito and the words, “NH State Bird.”
A year later after filing the lawsuit, the plaintiffs’ lawyer gave The Associated Press this written statement, “For [the resident’s] daughters, every one of those 365 days has been a living nightmare filled with tormenting images of what may have happened to their dad and where he might be. This lack of closure is something no family should ever have to endure. We intend to expose [the assisted living facility’s] conduct to the light of day and to hold the facility fully accountable.”
The facility has refused to comment on the lawsuit’s allegations.
Compliance Perspective
Allowing residents with declining cognition related to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia to wander outside the facility without proper supervision, and refusing to obtain and use alarm and tracking devices designed to prevent elopement and potential endangerment, may be considered abuse, negligence, and provision of sub-standard quality of care in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures to prevent residents who have been assessed with declining cognition related to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease from leaving the facility without adequate supervision and making use of appropriate monitoring alarm/tracking devices.
- Train staff to ensure that residents cannot leave the facility without proper supervision and, if a staff member is not immediately available to accompany them, how to redirect residents to prevent their continuing attempts to leave the facility.
- Periodically audit the elopement assessment risks of residents to determine if they are updated to reflect residents’ current cognition and increased levels of elopement risk.
